Sidelines
by VeryWithdrawn
Summary: Everyone here loves her, including me of course. Then again, I've always loved my best friend like a sister. It just gets a bit frustrating when everyone that loves her here hates me. AcexOC
1. Chapter 1

**Why, Helloo everyone! I know, I know. I've been a horrible author, what with making a new story even though I still have two unfinished ones. But the other two won't be dropped. It'll just take longer for me to update them (Why? Cause Imma workin' woman/girl/man/boy/thing now, WOOO). So, here's the first chapter of "Sidelines" for Heart no Kuni no Alice. Hope you like it!**

Chapter 1

My first encounter with her was situated in the woody, narrow cross path of our gardens. Alice Liddell was lying on the grass, her chin touching the edges of a new book, when I accidentally came upon her. As with any other normal person, she freaked out.

_Flashback_

"_Hah? Who are you? What are you doing in my garden?" Alice cried._

"_Me? What are you doing in _my _garden?" I shrieked._

"_What the- your? This is trespassing you know!"_

"_Not when it belongs to me!"_

_End Flashback_

When I think about it now, the whole event was silly. Luckily, we figured that out after our mini verbal brawl. Eventually, we deduced that the cross path was, technically, both ours.

But that's irrelevant information.

What's really important was the friendship we had built from that (quite) unusual meeting. You could say that, from that day on, we were almost sisters.

Almost.

On the day of our first encounter, Alice told me about her family. Apparently, after her mother's death, the picture perfect family became slightly torn apart. Her father, who adored his wife, became a work-a-holic to suppress his grief, while Edith, the third child, resented Alice for not crying at their mother's funeral.

'_She misunderstood, that Edith.'_

And who can forget Lorina. Smart, beautiful, sophisticated Lorina. She was kind. She was elegant…the whole package. Alice really loved her sister, almost to the point where I would get jealous sometimes. But amidst her pretty little mask (authentic or not) lies the little dirty truth. After that _incident_ I disliked her even more.

'_That little slut.'_

Alice locked herself in her room and cried for days and wouldn't open her door for anyone. She would have died of starvation if I hadn't climbed the tree next to her window and tossed her a lunchbox every night.

'_Forget him! He's a jerk, the both of them!'_

But even so, Alice still loved her sister. Smart, beautiful, sophisticated Lorina… I would be lying if I said that Alice, after a few weeks, reverted back to her witty, smart-mouthed self. In a sense, she was still witty and smart-mouthed. However, she became extremely self-conscious, always comparing her so-called "mediocre ness" to her sister's "radiance."

"I'm not as pretty," she would say.

"I'm not as smart," she would sigh.

"I'm not as elegant," she would whisper.

And it was funny when she would say those things, because Alice _was_ pretty and smart and elegant. But it's hard to convince a girl when all she sees in the mirror was a wildebeest staring back.

This wasn't the only problem that resulted from the _incident._ Alice would have her bouts of depression. It sprung randomly. One moment, we (unfortunately this included Lorina) would be having a fine time drinking tea, and the next, her eyes would cloud over in deep thought. I would put my hand on her shoulder, while Lorina would look at her with a slightly guilty expression.

It hurts to see my best friend so sad…

"-ma..."

And I can't help her.

"-ma."

So useless.

"Emma!"

I snapped back into reality and looked up. Alice stood with her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, Alice?"

"For Pete's sake, Emma. I've been calling you for the past hundred years!"

I chuckled.

"What's Pete got to do with this?" I said, "In any case, calling my name for hundreds of years would be quite hard to do, wouldn't it?"

"It wouldn't be so hard for you though, old woman," she retorted, a mischievous look glinted in her eye.

"Just 'cause I turned nineteen last week," I eye-rolled.

She smirked, as I slapped my forehead. I knew what was coming.

"Which is weird because you're only **this tall**."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about my being vertically challenged outside of the house," I mumbled through my fingers. I heard somewhere that my height of 4'11" technically made me a midget. Mother always fussed about how hard it would be for me to get a husband, or some crazy shit like that.

"Yes, well," she flopped onto the ground, "the garden is still a part of the home. Speaking of which, while you were out in space, Lorina went in to get some cards for a game."

"I see."

I laid my head on a small pile of overgrown grass and closed my eyes.

A soft rustle beside me implied that Alice did the same.

"She said to keep awake," Alice yawned.

'_With the weather this warm and the grass this soft? Fat chance.'_

I fell asleep.

I would have stayed asleep too, if it hadn't been for a shrill voice.

"Let me go! Emma!"

Emma? Me?

My eyes snapped open. Was that Alice being carried away by a man in coattails?

'_And are those rabbit ears?'_

"Emma!"

"Alice!" I gasped.

I jumped up and ran after the cosplaying kidnapper (perhaps it was his disguise, albeit a very poor one). With each step, I panted and wheezed. For a guy in some really chunky jewelry (big watch) and holding a girl, he runs fast. That, or I am seriously out of shape. In the distance, I noticed a gigantic hole on the ground; the rabbit man running straight towards it.

'_He wouldn't go and just jump into the hole, now, would he?' _

He jumped.

And I followed.

Was I a fool for jumping into the fray? Into imminent death? Possibly. But for making Alice's life more complicated than it was before, I was going to beat the living snot out of that man's face.

'_Don't worry Alice, I'll save you.'_

**Author's Note: If you had to choose between Ace and the Bloody Twins, who would it be? No reason for asking! Really! None at all… Read and Review! (And I can't stress this enough, it's Read ****and Review****!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh crap. I forgot the Disclaimer in the first chapter! But, you would have to be an idiot to think I own Heart no Kuni no Alice in any shape or form (I only own my Ocs and original plotlines) and you, my dear reader, are no idiot, right?**

**So here, enjoy the second chapter of Sidelines!**

**Chapter 2**

I was never considered "normal" back at home. For one thing, I refused to wear corsets and my dresses were always a bit shorter than the average woman's (They say that bearing my knees to the world is immodest, but I think it's quite comfortable). What really sticks me out like a sore thumb, though, were my ambitions. Between my violin lessons and Mother's "Proper Etiquette" lessons, I would often dream of being a traveler, a doctor, a professor, and, once, even a pirate. I expected to live a life that was steered away from the social norm.

But really, this was too much.

Never in my life, would I have imagined myself jumping into an oversized rabbit hole to rescue my best friend from the clutches of a madman with furry ears. And I did not even stop to think that my heroic act would just be wasted away anyway by the imminent death that waited below.

'_I'm falling for an awfully long time.'_

A very, very long time indeed. Is there ever such a rabbit's hole this deep? A speck of dirt flew into my eye as I continued my cascading.

_Blink_

Was that a canopy bed?

_Blink Blink_

And a rack of kitchen spices?

_Blink Blink Blink_

Suddenly, the darkness that had surrounded me earlier dissipated, only to be replaced by the more sylvan landscape I had become accustomed to at home in the gardens. But what was I doing on top of a tower? Moreover, where, in the name of Davy Jones's locker, did this tower come from? The possibility that I was in some underground lair was impossible, as there was a sky, and I was fairly certain that I did not fall all the way to China (I've seen the grainy pictures Father would bring back from his trips).

'_And where's Alice?'_

I scanned the perimeter and finally saw the familiar locks of brown hair. I was about to call her name, but wait…

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ALICE YOU PERVERT?"

That damned rabbit…I was going to maul his pretty little face for forcing himself onto Alice! As I ran, my hands curled into a small fist and aimed (a funny scene, if one were watching as a third party, seeing as how I resemble the image of the everyday elementary student). It was the perfect aim, the perfect momentum. I would know. I've been in countless of brawls. My fists of fury would dent his little nose, just like it did for the other cocky boys that would always try to "put me in my place."

And yet, those fists were enveloped into his own.

"Tch. How the did a cockroach get in?" He jerked his arm (twisting mine) and flung me to the side.

"Emma!"

"I'm going to kill him, Alice!" I coughed, clutching my side.

"That wouldn't happen in a lifetime, dirt," he grinned.

As I got up to attempt another punch, I noticed that my palms were translucent, almost see-through.

"Goodbye," he said in a disgustingly sweet, sing-song voice.

"A-Alice?" I shrieked, "What's going on? My hands!"

Alice ran towards me, only to fall right through my dematerializing body. She looked up in horror, only to see a severed-like head and legs.

"You!" Alice pointed at her captor, "What's happening to her?"

The rabbit-man smiled. "Oh, love, she doesn't belong here. She'll disappear soon."

"N-No," I stammered, "Alice!"

By now tears had begun streaming down my face as Alice could only watch me slowly fade away.

"Do something!" she screamed at the man. Alice began to hyperventilate as my right leg completely vanished, leaving only my head.

He looked at her and then at me (my head) and sighed.

"If it's for my sweet, then I guess I have no choice."

He reached into his red blazer and revealed a glass tube. He shook the tube, swishing the pink liquid and flicked it onto the ground.

"I refuse to help a germ."

Alice glared at him and pick up the bottle.

"Oh, but not you Alice my love! I will be glad to willingly assist you with anything on any day!"

Uncorking the bottle, she tipped the potion into my mouth. It tasted like raspberry tarts. Tingling warmth spread throughout my body as my arms and legs and torso reappeared.

"Alice!" I cried.

Before I'd the chance to run towards my friend and hug her, there was suddenly a-

BAM!

The area beside my left foot burst small chunks of concrete. I realized that I was nearly shot with a gun.

And who else would have a gun at that precise moment than Mr. Crazy right over there?

"Don't you touch my Alice!" he snarled.

I glared at my attacker. Alice was silent with shock.

"But I won't kill you," he said, retreating his gun, "it seems that Alice is very fond of you, and I find it very hard to believe that a mere child can be her lover."

My instincts told me to hold my tongue on the "child" reference. If given a chance to live, I'd take it, dignity or not.

"The others would probably get you first anyway," he said.

My eyes widened.

'Others?'

"You weren't invited to this game in the first place. You've no right to be here," he sneered, "Even if you are a foreigner, you'll be hated."

He turned and began to walk away, but stopped and turned his head.

"I am Peter White, by the way. I hope to see you dead the next time we meet, Emma."

He looked at Alice and clasped his hands together in an adoring fashion.

"And I shall see you soon my dear!"

With that, Peter White vanished.

**Author's Note: I would like to thank ****AnimeAngel23** **for leaving the first review (and it was helpful too!) Please read and review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice. But I did find a new otome game/anime to obsess over. Ever heard of Hakuouki? Anyone? Besides the practically useless heroine who can't do anything even though she has a friggin sword, it's pretty good (and I mean the pretty bishounen ).

In HnKnA news, guess who just got her very own Clover no Kuni no Alice: Bloody Twins manga? WOOO!

**Chapter 3: How Many Stalkers? **

All was silent atop the tower. What did Peter mean when he said that I would be hated? I didn't even do anything out of the particular, other than jumping into the gargantuan hole.

'_You don't belong here.'_

Alice doesn't either. She was in a sense the same as me; we're both girls, about the same age, and we were both thrown into an extremely odd situation. So why the hell was I the one that received the "warm welcome?" Moreover…

"Alice, did you know that man?" I inquired.

She looked at me incredulously.

"What? No!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? You two seemed pretty well-acquainted."

Alice blushed.

"I was never 'well-aquainted' with that brute!"

"But if the guy kisses you on the lips, then surely you've met him before?" My eyes trailed towards the ground, " I thought we told each other everything?"

As big of an exaggeration as it sounds, this particular fact was true. We would exchange secrets and gossips as if they were one of those collectible trading cards those boys back in school would play with. So when Alice displayed slightly remote signs in which she might have kept something from me, it wasn't surprising to find me all down in the dumps. Call it an extreme sister complex, if you will.

"Emma…

Alice reached over and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"You know that you and Lorina are the first people I'd tell anything to."

I stood up and held the grimace that had threatened to overtake my face. Even in situations like this, Lorina still haunts me.

"So then, Peter's just a random…

" Pervert? Most likely," Alice said as she started for the exit.

There was a rather long silence as we trekked outside and into the woods. Perhaps there we would find someone that would help us. As we walked, my eyes widened as a thought popped into my head.

"Alice?"

"Hm?"

"You said that you've never met him before, correct?"

"Mmhm."

I turned and look at her.

"Then how…how did he know our names?"

She stopped, color drained from her face.

"Oh God, he must be one of those super stalkers!"

I wrinkled my nose, knowing exactly what she meant by a "super stalker." It was a common thing to regard Lorina as "a pretty thing to look at." However, Alice and I weren't the only people who thought of her that way. The village's men also had their eyes on her. If a Geisha in the islands near Cathay could stop a man in his tracks with a glance, then Lorina would have said man become a skuzzy, psycho creeper without even looking at him, which was exactly what happened, and although I loathed Lorina to an impossible degree (homewrecker), even she didn't deserve the -ahem- "woos" of a "super stalker."

It was an incredibly strange and disturbing part in my life.

And I was not going to re-live it.

" I see," I could imagine the fiery spark glinting in my eye as I held a fist in the air, "Like I said before, Alice, I'm going to kill that sonofabitch!"

She smirked and cracked her knuckles, "Not if I get him first, Emma!"

_In the distance:_

It was not uncommon for wild animals to prowl in these woods. The bandersnatch creeps as the jub jub bird stalks. Prey wouldn't kill themselves, you know. However, it was not an animal that was observing these two peculiar girls a mile away. No. It was a blur of red, a grin, and a pair of red eyes.

But like the bandersnatch, he creeps.

And like the jub jub bird, he stalks.

Following their every move.

But mostly Emma's.

**Author's Note: Sorry if this was short and lacking in Ace action, but I'd like to slowly bring him in. What I like to do with my stories is to not only entertain my audience, but also to show them a deeper side to the characters. I've read many fanfics in which the main guy rushes in and immediately liplocks with the heroine (or hero, if you're reading a yaoi) and it's a bit ridiculous, in my opinion, because it's been only the first few chapters and the word count for each chapter is like, what, 300 words? So yeah, I would like to steer clear from rushed plotlines (because I'll admit, I've written one like that before, and I don't particularly want to do that again :)**


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